Several Athenry AC athletes got to challenge the World's current best distance runner, Kenenisa Bekele, in the Great Ireland Run 10k on Sunday 15th April. None seriously troubled him but how many sports are there where "ordinary joes" can compete against the best on the planet? How many are there where you can compete against Rosanna Davison?!

Twelve Athenry runners made the trip to the Phoenix Park. They included two couples, Jimmy and Frances Leahy and Mark and Grainne Breen. Athenry athletes did well on what is considered a tough course, with the final 3k an uphill finish. One group finished in times between 36 and 41 minutes, including Mick Rice, Tomas Ruane, Mark Breen, Owen Curran, Noel Fox and Lyall Guiney. The full list of Athenry finishers is below in alphabetical order.



And Mr. Bekele? He ran 27:49, the fastest road 10k in the World this year and the first time anyone has run sub-28 minutes on Irish soil. He barely looked out of breath crossing the finish line. For your interest, his average pace per mile was less than 4:30 and per kilometer it was 2:46.



Thanks to Club Captain Tomas Mangan for organizing the number and chip collection for everyone.



       



Grainne Breen    55:21        



Mark Breen    38:06        



Sinead Brody    46:00        



Owen Curran    37:13        



Noel Fox    40:57        



Lyall Guiney    37:25        



Frances Leahy    55:50        



Jimmy Leahy    43:05        



Peter Lowney    52:41        



Tomas Mangan    47:39



Mick Rice    36:45        



Tomas Ruane    40:24